I know what you’re thinking: “Just three?” I love graphs as much as the next guy, but I’ve squished what you need to know about the labor market into three graphs, courtesy of the St. Louis Fed’s FRED database. I’ve said before that it annoys me when the single piece of data the news media uses to assess the economy is the unemployment rate, which is subject to ... More

Welcome to the Lunchtime Reader, where we assemble important stories to keep your eyes on. The Catholic Church confirms Pope Benedict XVI will visit Cuba in the spring. http://cvote.to/9g The mitts come off: Romney slams Gingrich for attacking Paul Ryan’s Medicare reforms. http://cvote.to/9h Mitt Romney now says he wouldn’t recommend other states adopt Romneycare. That’s a shift from what he... More

Welcome to the Lunchtime Reader, where we assemble important stories to keep your eyes on. Mitt Romney and Rick Perry scrapped just hours before the GOP debate in Orlando tonight on Fox News at 9 pm ET. Picking up on the concern that Perry might have a tough time winning suburban voters, Tim Pawlenty wrote an op-ed for Politico with the not-so-subtle title: “Romney is electable.” http://cvote.... More

Welcome to the Lunchtime Reader, where we assemble important stories to keep your eyes on. Great news from the Granite State: Pro-abortion Democrat John Lynch, who professes to be Catholic, won’t seek re-election to a fifth two-year term as governor of New Hampshire. His decision opens the race for governor wide open. Pro-life Catholic Ovide Lamontagne, who lost to (now Senator) Kelly Ayotte, ... More

Behold the reason there are no jobs: imported wood on Gibson guitars. It’s no wonder unions are falling in influence and respect in this country when they’re led by people like James Hoffa. On CNN’s States of the Union show yesterday he said a number of things that belie a basic ignorance about how jobs actually are created. A few items: 1) He suggested that American companies ha... More